Senior Specialist, Manufacturing Automation

At our company, we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. We're at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. We use the power of leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world. Join our manufacturing division and be part of a team dedicated to maintaining reliable, compliant, and secure automation solutions while driving continuous improvement and digital manufacturing initiatives.

About the role

Working within the Site DMO team, the Senior Specialist, Manufacturing Automation serves as the site technical lead for manufacturing automation systems supporting production operations. The role provides automation expertise across PLC, HMI, machine vision, serialization, MES, IT, and OEM manufacturing systems. Emphasis is placed on packaging automation, vision inspection systems, and serialization technologies, including Systech, Cognex, and Optel platforms.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and shop floor support for PLC, HMI, Vision Systems, Serialization, MES, IT, Inspection, and OEM equipment within Manufacturing Operations.
• Serve as the site subject matter expert for machine vision and serialization technologies, with strong preference for Systech experience and knowledge of Cognex and Optel platforms.
• Act as the primary interface between Operations and digital support organizations to resolve issues impacting production performance and equipment reliability.
• Lead troubleshooting, root cause investigations, and implementation of corrective and preventive actions for complex automation-related issues.
• Support packaging and inspection systems including barcode verification, reject verification processes, track-and-trace, and serialization solutions.
• Develop and execute strategies to optimize automation system performance, reliability, scalability, and lifecycle management.
• Identify and implement continuous improvement opportunities that improve throughput, reduce downtime, and enhance product quality.
• Lead or support automation modernization projects, equipment upgrades, startup activities, and new technology deployments.
• Ensure systems remain compliant with GMP, validation, data integrity, cybersecurity, and change management requirements.
• Maintain automation documentation, backups, inventories, SOPs, and system lifecycle records.
• Provide mentoring, coaching, and technical knowledge sharing across engineering, maintenance, and operations teams.
• Participate in on-call and limited off-shift support as required to maintain manufacturing operations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Science, Engineering, or related technical field.
• Eight or more (8+) years of automation, controls engineering, manufacturing systems, or related experience.
• Strong working knowledge of PLCs, HMIs, servo drives, and industrial control systems.
• Experience supporting automation systems in regulated manufacturing environments.
• Demonstrated project leadership, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with packaging technology and automated inspection equipment.
• Knowledge of vision systems including Systech, Cognex, and Optel.
• Familiarity with serialization and track-and-trace technologies.
• Guardian platform experience.
• MES, IT/OT integration, data integrity, and cybersecurity knowledge.
• Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, and Right First-Time methodologies.

Skills

• Required: Audit Management, Automation Engineering, Business Process Improvements, Contract Management, Data Management, Digital Manufacturing, GMP Compliance, Industrial Control System, Lean Manufacturing, Operations Automation, Packaging Optimization, Packaging Processes, Problem Management, Project Leadership, Quality Management, Real-Time Programming, Security Compliance, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
• Preferred: Systech, Cognex, Optel, Guardian platform, MES, IT/OT integration, cybersecurity.

Pay

The salary range for this role is $117,000.00 - $184,200.00. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs. The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at Merck Compensation and Benefits.

Schedule

• Shift: 1st - Day
• Travel Requirements: 10%
• On-call and limited off-shift support as required.